176	BURMA
more with them, than reason. Their awakening nationalism in
the twentieth century made them more acutely conscious than
any other people in the East of their long history as an inde-
pendent power.
But the decision was made in far too much of a hurry;
dominion status within the British Commonwealth would have
been the wiser solution, and might have been Burma's own
choice, if only some way could have been found of deferring a
decision until the people had had a better opportunity of
learning what was really involved. Britain's attitude was not,
as has been somewhat irresponsibly asserted, the result of post-
war military and economic weakness. It sprang from a genuine
desire to retain the friendship of the Burmese people. One of the
most noteworthy features of British administration, too often
overlooked by its critics, was the real understanding and friend-
ship, which, individually, Britons and Burmese have always
shown towards each other.
The Burmese desire for national independence was natural
and inevitable. It took some at least of its inspiration from the
system of education introduced by the British themselves. We
taught them our language, our literature, our history and our
political philosophy, all of which are steeped in the principles
of freedom and popular self-government. Through such a
medium, and through personal contacts with British teachers,
have their best minds learnt to study the problems of the
modern world.